By Eric Gerber
Staff writer

A weekend of events celebrating the work of acclaimed Japanese animator Yoshiyuki Tomino will be held at the University of Houston Feb. 27-28, 2004. It will culminate with a lecture by Tomino, best known as the creator of the popular “Gundam” films and TV series.

The public is invited, and admission to all events is free.

Tomino's first “Gundam” series revolutionized the giant robot genre in Japanese animation when it debuted on Japanese television in 1979 as an animated science-fiction series. The word “Gundam” comes from the Japanese name for the mobile suits that the main characters, heroic robots, wear. The original “Gundam” directed by Tomino led to numerous sequels, including 10 movies, nine television series and four video series in addition to countless novels, comics and video games. The popularity of the “Gundam” series in Japan can be compared to the popularity of “Star Trek” in the United States.

Tomino’s lecture is titled “Japan's Anime Phenomenon -- A Cultural Perspective.” He will speak at 1 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 28 in the Waldorf-Astoria Ballroom at the Hilton UH Hotel and Conference Center. A Q&A session and opportunity for autographs will follow. Anime is a style of animation developed in Japan characterized by highly stylized, futuristic settings, sex and violence.

In addition to Tomino’s lecture, the two-day event will offer screenings of various anime works; workshops in animation cel painting, drawing and origami; Q&A sessions with anime voice actors; game shows hosted by anime personality Greggo; and a “cosplay” costume contest.

The event is being presented by the Consulate-General of Japan at Houston in cooperation with KamiKazeCon (http://kamikazecon.com) and the UH organization Anime-no-kai (http://iria.chem.uh.edu/ank/). During his Houston visit, Tomino is also scheduled to visit NASA where he will be given a tour of the facilities by an employee of JAXA, Japan's national space agency.